Kevin Caufield’s high fire porcelain kitchen and serving ware are minimally decorated and beautifully thrown. Caufield is owner of Caufield Clay Works. “Pottery was ‘Plan B’ for what I thought I would do with my life,” Caufield said. “I grew up one of seven kids in an Irish Catholic family on Long Island. I always figured I’d be a firefighter like my Dad, but it didn’t quite turn out that way.” (Photo by Margie O’Loughlin)

By MARGIE O’LOUGHLIN
The Spring Saint Paul Art Crawl is approaching fast. This semi-annual, three-day event will close out the month of April with studio tours and art experiences on Fri., Apr. 28 from 6-10pm; Sat., Apr. 29 from 12-8pm; and Sun., Apr. 30 from 12-5pm.

Art Crawl Director Alexzan Richmond said, “To date, we have 341 artists registered to show their work in 33 different buildings throughout the city. Of those buildings, eight are located within Midway, Raymond Station (Raymond and University avenues), and South Como. The diversity of artists and the media they work in are tremendous. At many of the studios, visitors can see artists at work and maybe try their hand at making something themselves.”

Ceramic artist Mary Jo Schmith owns the Front Avenue Pottery and Tile Company at 895 Front Ave. in South Como. “I got involved in the Saint Paul Art Crawl four years ago because I wanted to offer my neighbors a fun, informal clay workshop where they could make something useful,” Schmith said.

Photo right: Mary Jo Schmith, owner of Front Avenue Pottery and Tile Company, will be firing it up in South Como. A graduate of the University of Minnesota, Schmith has been throwing pots professionally for more than 20 years. Her work is playfully decorative, high quality, functional stoneware for table and home. (Photo by Margie O’Loughlin)

This spring, visitors to Schmith’s studio can join in afternoon workshops on Saturday and Sunday from 12-4pm to hand-build a garden lantern. Finished lanterns will be kiln-fired, and can be picked up later by arrangement with Schmith. There is no charge for the workshop, but donations will be cheerfully accepted for the cost of materials. Children ages five+ are welcome to participate. The studio’s pottery wheel will be available to try every day of the crawl.

“The Saint Paul Art Crawl is not a juried event,” said Richmond, “meaning that anyone who makes art by hand is welcome to show their work. There’s a range of experience on the part of participating artists and a range of prices for those wishing to purchase art. I like to say; you can spend anywhere from $5 to $20,000 here; I’ve seen the whole gamut.”

Artists pay a small fee to participate: $45 to list their studio name and location in the event catalog, or $65 to buy a listing with a photo of their work included. Catalogs will be available at each location.

Photo left: Kevin Caufield, owner of Caufield Clay Works, at the wheel in his Midway studio at 2242 University Ave., #150. Caufield has ten student wheels which see constant use; his popular classes, such as a two-hour wine and pottery event, are booked out three months in advance. This is Caufield’s 25th year of participating in the St. Paul Art Crawl. (Photo by Margie O’Loughlin)

The Saint Paul Art Crawl draws more than 20,000 visitors twice a year, charges no admission, and will be distributing a full color, 112-page catalog at no charge. How has that been sustainable for more than a quarter of a century? The answer, according to Richmond lies in two golden words, “community partnerships.”

“We see this crawl as an opportunity to deepen relationships between businesses and artists,” Richmond said, “and between artists and community members. The St. Paul Federal Credit Union is the official sponsor this year. They’ve been a tremendous supporter of ours; they understand how critical artists are to the health of this community.”

Richmond continued, “In addition, we’ve received so much support from local businesses including AM 950 KTNF, the Dark Horse Bar and Eatery, C & E Lofts, Metro Transit, Modern Press, the Pioneer Press and many others.

MTC will be providing free bus passes for Saturday and Sunday Art Crawl visitors. Passes can be downloaded at www.saintpaulartcrawl.org.

There are many reasons to come out and enjoy the Saint Paul Art Crawl. It’s family-friendly, it’s fun, it’s free and, thanks to MTC, it’s even easy to get around. But most of all, it’s inspiring—and you just never know what could happen when you get inspired.

This event is produced by the St. Paul Art Collective, which has been connecting art and community since 1977.